7/27/2019 State Attorney Jeff Ashton Statement on Jenkins and
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M E D I A R E L E A S E
October 17, 2013
CONTACT: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Richard I. Wallsh
Chief Assistant/Executive Director407-836-2495
Joseph Ivan Jenkins & Charles Bernard Walker Prison
Release
In response to media inquiries, State Attorney Jeffrey L. Ashton
provides the following
information:
1. Earlier this week, the State Attorney learned that a member
of the victims
family contacted the State Attorneys Office to inform us that
inmate Joseph Ivan Jenkins had
been released from the state Department of Corrections. This
office initiated an investigation
and quickly learned that someone had filed a forged Motion to
Reduce Sentence in Mr. Jenkins
case and had also filed a forged court order granting that
motion. The State Attorney
requested the assistance of the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement (FDLE) to apprehend
Mr. Jenkins.
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2. The State Attorney later learned that another inmate, Charles
Bernard Walker,
had obtained his release after a forged motion and a forged
order granting the motion were
filed in his court case as well.
3. Each of the motions purported to bear the signature of either
the State Attorney
himself or Assistant State Attorney James Altman. Both
signatures are forgeries.
4. Earlier today the State Attorney issued an office wide email
to his prosecutors
directing them to immediately review records to ascertain
whether anyone they prosecuted
who was sent to prison had also filed similar forged documents
or other suspicious court
activity. So far, no additional instances have been found.
5. Also in response to recent events the State Attorney, Chief
Judge Belvin Perry
and Interim Clerk of Court Colleen M. Reilly met to discuss what
occurred and to install security
measures to prevent future unauthorized prison releases.
6. The State Attorneys Office is presently prosecuting another
inmate, Jeffrey
Forbes, for the felony crimes of Forgery, Uttering a Forgery and
Attempted Escape using a
similar scheme. Fortunately, Mr. Forbes plans were thwarted when
this past Spring the original
case detective, Dave Clark, chose to search the prison systems
database for felons he had
helped convict and, by happenstance, came upon the surprising
information that Mr. Forbes
was scheduled to be released from the Department of Corrections
notwithstanding his life
imprisonment sentence for the Attempted First Degree Murder of a
Law Enforcement Officer.
Detective Clark notified the State Attorneys Office and the
investigation revealed that
someone had forged the State Attorneys name on a bogus motion
and someone had also
7/27/2019 State Attorney Jeff Ashton Statement on Jenkins and
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forged a circuit judges name on a bogus court order reducing Mr.
Forbes life sentence. Jeff
Ashton had been the original prosecutor who convicted Mr.
Forbes.
7. After learning of the forgeries in the Forbes court file, the
State Attorney spoke
with both the Chief Judge and representatives of the Orange
County Clerk of Court regarding
increasing security measures at that time as well. The State
Attorney does not fault these or
any other state officials for the events regarding Mr. Jenkins
and Mr. Walker. It is now clear
that the use of forged court documents to obtain release from
prison is an ongoing threat
which all law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, court clerks and
prison officials must address
and stop.
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